There is a good chance that Turkey will bring its presidential elections forward by a month. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned this today, writes Bloomberg. Instead of in June, the Turks would go to the polls in May.
Erdogan, who is running for re-election in May, stressed today at an election rally in Antalya that his campaign will continue unabated for the next five months. He also invited supporters to go door-to-door to gather support, ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections.
The 68-year-old Erdogan has dominated Turkish politics for more than two decades and made the once purely ceremonial role of president the most powerful position in the country. On Thursday he spoke for the first time about the possibility of bringing forward the elections.
Electoral authority
Erdogan is expected to indeed push the election forward, but it is unclear when exactly that will happen. The electoral authority in Turkey decides on this. To win, Erdogan must get more than 50% of the vote in the first round. This prevents a second round, which takes place two weeks later. No candidate has yet been announced by the opposition, although according to the pro-Kurdish HDP party it should be announced soon.
Source: BNR
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